Foxy Knoxy weeps in court as she says: 'I'm sorry for accusing man of murdering Meredith'

Friday 30 November 2007 15:37 BST

The American student accused of murdering Meredith Kercher said she was sorry for branding a bar owner a killer.

At a court hearing in the Italian town of Perugia, Amanda Knox, 20, said: "I want to tell the truth. I'm sorry about Patrick. I'm sorry about the whole situation. I'm innocent."

But her application for bail was rejected, along with her Italian boyfriend's, Raffaele Sollecito, 23.

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Amanda Knox, left, and Raffaele Sollecito are seen arriving at court flanked by guards in these stills from Italian television

The pair - who can be held for up to a year before trial - will remain in custody at the town's Capanne prison.

Her lawyer Luciano Ghirga said: "She was very emotional for the hearing and addressed the court in English.

"She spoke for less than a minute and declared her innocence and apologised for Patrick and the situation."

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The suspects arrived at court in a blacked out police van

A police source revealed Knox had been bugged in prison as she spoke to her parents.

The source said: "She didn't admit what happened but it was clear she had been at the house at the time."

After the application was refused, Knox was returned to the small prison cell she is sharing with three other women in a wing reserved for sex offenders, Sollecito was also refused bail.

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Lovers: suspects Knox and Sollecito may be held for up to a year before trial

Chief prosecutor Giuliano Mignini told the court evidence against the pair had mounted, saying a kitchen knife with Knox's DNA near the handle and Miss Kercher's near the tip was found at Sollecito's home.

Meanwhile Knox's blood was found in a bathroom next to where Miss Kercher's body was discovered.

It is four weeks since the body of Miss Kercher, 21, was discovered in the hillside home she and Knox had shared. Her throat had been cut and she had been sexually assaulted.

Knox, who is nicknamed Foxy Knoxy, and Sollecito were arrested four days later along with Patrick Diya Lumumba, 38, whom Knox accused of being at the scene.

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Victim: Meredith Kercher was found with her throat slashed at the flat she shared with Knox

Mr Lumumba has since been released and another man, Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, was arrested.

He was seized as he travelled on a train without a ticket and has confessed that he was with Miss Kercher on the night she died.

But he has told officials that he was in the bathroom when she was killed, emerging only in time to have a brief confrontation with the killer.